Automatic separation system for sensitive paper and original paper in copying machine



1969 YASUSUKE DOHl ETAL AUTOMATIC SEPARATION SYSTEM FOR SENSITIVE PAPERAND ORIGINAL PAPER IN COPYING MACHINE Filed Feb. 14, 1966 Sheet 5 20 P 1I i i i s 1/ Z 2 I I 69 YASUSUQ? DOHl ETAL 3,425,332

AUTOMATIC SEPARATIO EM FOR SENSITIVE PAPER AND ORIGINAL P R IN COPYINGMACHINE Filed Feb. '14, 1966 Sheet 2 of 2 United States Patent 6 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE .Apparatus for separating the copy sheetmaterial from a master after exposure in an exposing station from whichthe copy sheet and master are guided into a concave surface which causesseparation of the master from the copy sheet. The concave surface guidesthe leading edges of the copy sheet and master over a guiding plate to agear means which engages the copy sheet arresting the forward motion ofthe leading edge thereof thereby producing a hump which moves theleading edge of the master away from the copy sheet for easy graspingand separation. The gear means is driven at a slower rate than theleading edge of the copy sheet moves in a direction away from themaster.

The present invention relates to copying machines and more particularlyto a machine which provides for separation of the master or originalfrom the sensitive copy sheet so that the sensitive copy sheet can beprocessed to fix the image thereon.

Heretofore photocopying machines have been used in which the master ororiginal is placed in face-to-face contact with a photosensitive copysheet and actinic light is passed through the master thereby exposingthe copy sheet which is then processed to develop and fix the image onthe copy sheet. Some difficulty has been experienced in separating themaster from the exposed copy sheet and various methods and means havebeen provided to separate the master from the sensitive copy sheet. Oneway of doing this was by the provision of vacuum devices for engagingthe copy sheet and the master and separating such vacuum devices therebyseparating the copy sheet from the master. These devices have not beensatisfactory because of the complicated structures required for thispurpose and it is an object of the present invention to overcome theproblem of separating the master from the copy sheet.

Another object is to provide equipment to produce copies with the masterand copy sheet in register at the leading edges thereof and to providemeans for causing one sheet to be retarded with respect to the other,thereby offsetting the leading edges to provide for ease of separation.

Briefly, the present invention provides an exposing station including acylindrical drum with a source of light therein and a reflector withbelt means to move a sandwich of a master and a sensitive copy sheetover the surface of the transparent drum thereby exposing the sensitivecopy sheet and thereafter guiding the sandwich to a concave curveinducing guide board which contacts the master applying a frictionalforce thereon as the copy sheet is fed forwardly to a guide plateadjacent the emerging end of the concave curve inducing guide board withgear means adapted to engage the leading edge of the copy sheet causingthe copy sheet to be moved away from the master while causing the copysheet to produce a hump which further moves the master away from thecopy sheet permitting ease of separation thereof. There- 3,425,332Patented Feb. 4, 1969 after the copy sheet is fed by the gear means toan extension of the belt means and thence by means of a pinch rollerfeeding the copy sheet to a processing station where the image isdeveloped and fixed.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic side elevation of the essential elements of thecopying machine with the frame and driving means omitted.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the machine shown in FIGURE 1with parts broken away to show the structure thereof and showing theside frame members for supporting the belt guide and driving rollers,the gear means and the belts.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary schematic side elevation similar to FIGURE 1showing the first contact of the leading edges of the master and thecopy sheet with the curve inducing guide board.

FIGURE 4 is a similar view showing the leading edges of the master andsensitive copy sheet fed further along the curve inducing guide board.

FIGURE 5 shows the initial separation of the master from the copy sheetand illustrating one position of the slant guide plate to produce thedesired initial contact with the gear means to obtain the humping actionfor further facilitating the separation of the copy sheet from themaster.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, a pair of side framemembers a, a rotatably support belt guide rollers 1, 2, 3, 5, and 4 overwhich rollers a plurality of belts 7 arranged in parallel relationtransverse to the axes of the rollers pass to feed a master [2 and acopy sheet c of sensitive sheet material.

A cylindrical light housing 6 of transparent material is rotatablymounted between the frame members a, a with a source of light in theform of a lamp 8 mounted therein with a reflector 9 to direct theactinic rays through the master b and into exposing relation withrespect to the copy sensitive sheet c as the sandwich of the master andthe copy sensitive sheet pass over the surface of the cylindrical drum 6by the feeding action of the belts 7.

A curve inducing guide board 10 having a concave cylindrical surfaceembracing the feed belt roller 1 receives the emerging sandwich of themaster b and the copy sheet c as shown in FIGURE 3 and further feedingof the sandwich causes the master b to be frictionally retarded due toits contact with the concave surface of the curve inducing guide board10 as shown in FIGURE 4, and further feeding to cause the sandwich toemerge from the upper edge of the curve inducing guide board 10 causesthe sandwich to be fed into contact with the gear means 12 mounted onthe shaft 11 rotatably mounted in the frame members a, a.

A guide plate 14 is positioned adjacent the exit end of the curveinducing guide board 10 being pivotally mounted on a shaft 15 supportedby the frame members a, a to guide the leading edge of the copy sheet 0into the spaces between the teeth 12 as clearly shown in FIGURES 1 and5.

A shelf 13 positioned above the curve inducing guide board 10 is adaptedto receive the master b as it separates from the copy 0. A table 18provided adjacent belt supporting roller 2 serves as a support for thesandwich of the copy sheet c and the master b as they are fed in thedirection of the arrows as the belt 7 is operated around the belt guiderollers. Feed wheels 17 frictionally engage the belts 7 and/or theroller 4 and serve to feed the exposed copy sheet 0 between guide board19 and guide board 19 to a developing station 20 where the image isdeveloped and/or fixed, thereby producing a permanent copy.

The copy sheet 0 may have a tendency to curl in a downward curve asshown in full lines in FIGURE 1, or

it may have no tendency to curl, or it may have a tendency to curlupwardly. To compensate for any of these tendencies, the slat guideplate 14 may be adjusted to be substantially radial to the axis of shaft11 or may be adjusted so that the plane of the slant guide plate isabove or below the axis of shaft 11. This adjustment makes it possibleto assure that the leading edge of the copy sheet c will enter thespaces between the teeth 12 of the gear means 12. The gear means 12 isrotated in the direction of the arrow shown in FIGURE 5 at a slowerperipheral speed than the speed of the belts 7 and the leading edge ofthe copy sheet is positively engaged with the teeth of the gear means 12causing a stoppage of the horizontal motion of the leading edge of thecopy sheet c as the copy sheet c is fed by the belts 7 from the exposinghousing 6, thereby causing the copy sheet to hump upwardly to a greaterextent and causing the leading edge of the master to extend upwardly asshown in full lines in FIGURE 5 and further causing the master b tofollow the upwardly curving dotted line shown in FIGURE 1 so that thenatural motion thereof will place the master on the shelf 13, in anycase the leading edge of the master is Well separated from the copysheet so that the operator can easily grasp the master and prevent itfrom following the copy sheet.

The copy sheet is then fed along the dotted line path c in FIGURE 1between the feed wheels 17 and the belts and/ or roller 4 between theguide boards 19, 19 to the developing and/or fixing station 20.

It will thus be seen that the present invention assures positiveseparation of the master or original from the copy sheet withoutrequiring complicated expensive apparatus and without requiring specialpositioning of the master on the copy sheet.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for exposing sensitive copy sheet material through a masterand separating the copy sheet from the master comprising an exposingstation, conveyor means to move a master and a copy sheet from theexposing station, a curve inducing guide board having a concave surfaceof substantial arcuate extent arranged with one end in the path of themaster and copy sheet from the exposing station by the action of theconveyor means, the other end of said concave surface being spacedlaterally away from the path of the master and copy sheet from theexposing station, a guide plate adjacent the other end of the concavesurface to support the leading end of the master and copy sheet emergingfrom said concave surface with one end of said guide plate adjacent saidother end of the concave surface of the guide board, gear means 5 in thepath of the master and copy sheet guided by said guiding surface of saidguide plate, said gear means spaced from the other end of said guideplate, said master and copy sheet being of sufficient length to extendfrom said conveyor means to said gear means whereby the leading edge ofthe copy sheet will engage between the teeth of the gear means and becaused to move transversely in a direction away from the supportingsurface of said guide plate, means to drive said gear means so theperipheral speed thereof is much slower than the speed of the conveyorwhereby the leading edge of the copy sheet will be arrested uponengagement with the gear means and the adjacent portion of the copysheet will hump up in a direction above the guiding surface of the guideplate and cause the master to be moved away from the guide plate and thecopy sheet whereby the leading edge of the master can be readilyseparated from the copy sheet and the copy sheet fed under the gearmeans for discharge for further processing.

2. The invention according to claim 1 in which the guide plate ismovably mounted so the other end of the guide plate can be adjusted sothe copy sheet can be guided directly toward the axis of the gear meansor above the axis of the gear means or below the axis of the gear means.

3. The invention according to claim 1 in which a table for receiving themaster is mounted adjacent the other end of said concave surface.

4. The invention according to claim 1 in which the exposing stationincludes a rotatable transparent drum surrounding a light source and theconveyor is belt means engaging the drum and guided by rollers sopositioned that the belt means pass between the gear means and the drumto convey the copy sheet to the developing station.

5. The invention according to claim 4 in which a feed Wheel ispositioned adjacent one of the guide rollers for the belt means tocooperate with the belt means to frictionally feed the copy sheet forfurther processing.

6. The invention according to claim 5 in which a pair of guide boardsare positioned in the path of the copy sheet emerging from the feedwheel and the belt means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,077,316 2/1963 Wells et a1 -75XR 3,257,925 6/ 1966 Ashburner 9575 FOREIGN PATENTS 19,408 8/ 1907 GreatBritain. 908,538 10/ 1962 Great Britain.

0 NORTON ANSHER, Primary Examiner.

FRED L. BRAUN, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 9577.5; 27164

